Wembleys-in-waiting
The 15 Non-League Clubs With The Biggest Stadium Capacities

1. St. Helens Town (North West Counties, Premier Division) - 17,500
2. Wrexham (Conference National) - 15,500
3. Newcastle Blue Star (Northern Premier, Division One North) - 13,500
4. Oxford United (Conference National) - 12,500
5. Click to continue reading...

**Good news of sorts that Poland & Ukraine have not been dropped as Euro 2012 hosts, despite widespread rumors to the contrary. Much as I love tournaments in new places, these two countries have an impossible-looking job beyond rebuilding their stadia in time for kick-off. Any host nation must also be able to ferry thousands of visiting fans around the country 24/7. Click to continue reading...

Fears have dogged South Africa's hosting of the 2010 World Cup ever since it was announced in 2004. Questions persist about the country's crime rate – only Colombia has more murders per head of population, and whether the stadia and infrastructure will be ready in two years' time. But surely the most worrying thing yet is the official mascot Zakumi, unveiled yesterday, which looked like it had Click to continue reading...

While most of the world is in qualification mode for the 2010 World Cup, the host country South Africa is also in 'qualification mode.'

FIFA president Sepp Blatter visits South Africa next week and organizers of the 2010 World Cup are confident the head of football's organizing body will like what he sees. Click to continue reading...

I just watched the game via the archived stream on MLSNet. This team looks completely different from the team that lost to Chicago just a week earlier. At home.

Probably because it basically is a completely different team when you put in Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Eddie Lewis all at the same time.

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It seems at least one guy who plys his trade on the pitch at MLS stadia actively reads us and some MLSR topics get discussed in the locker room...We knew it was only a matter of time....

from (name witheld)
to MLS RUMORS
date Sun Aug 24, 2008 at 9:19 PM
subject Keep it going


Hey 'sup!

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The Premier League is undoubtedly the superpower of world football. Too the extent of Serie A in the Late 80's and 90's. Back then the English First Division had only a handful of great players. There was uninterested fans and media. It was suffering from utter Scouse domination. Aside from history, the English top flight had very little to build on. Click to continue reading...

Yes, I know it is inevitable, but I had to be like all the other bloggers this time of year and post my predictions for the coming Premier League season. Frankly, I can't be bothered to go through each team, analyse their transfers, manager and players, before writing 2-3 paragraphs on how they will do. Click to continue reading...

SOMETIMES interviews take a different course to that envisaged beforehand. Zambian striker Zeddy Saileti's meeting with the Helsinki Times is one such occasion, because when we meet Saileti is not a happy man. His team, RoPS, have lost 5-0 to Tampere United, and Saileti knows who to blame: the referee. Click to continue reading...

Ewan Macdonald recently penned a review of the progress of MLS.

He argues that franchises that built soccer-specific facilities in the last decade have become permanent tenants in more than a geographic sense:
"To my mind, these stadia and the atmosphere -- not to mention a sense of belonging and not merely being a tenant in a facility -- have been essential to those clubs that have gone the distance since the early days.

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We haven't talked USL around here in while have we? Typically I try to watch FSC's game of the week with some consistency but for whatever reason it hasn't grabbed me this season. This Thursday though is the most-anticipated USL match if the season; the final Portland v. Seattle match of the season and --with Seattle leaving USL-- perhaps ever. Click to continue reading...

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Hoped-for improvement at Loftus Road. Over the past, been various complaints on the boards re food services.

QPR Official Site THE MEAL DEAL WITH LINDLEY'S CATERING
Queens Park Rangers fans will be treated to a variety of new products and offers throughout the public catering kiosks next season, as Lindley's Catering introduces a new line of food products to Loftus Road. Click to continue reading...

For all those enraged by the hundreds of millions of pounds in inflated transfer fees flying between the stadia of Europe this summer: there was once a bearded man from a long time ago who proposed that the use-value of a commodity or service should determine its price, not market forces. No, I'm not [. Click to continue reading...

That's the message being sent to fans of Primera A clubs by the AFA. From the start of this year's Apertura, new regulations will be introduced to increase safety in the top flight stadia of Capital Federal. As part of a long-delayed initiative, clubs including River Plate, Boca Juniors, Vélez Sársfield and San Lorenzo will have to have 90% of their [. Click to continue reading...

With the final game of EURO 2008 now over, it is time to breathe in the Alpine air and take stock.

Overall, it has been one of the better tournaments of recent years. The football has for the most part been attacking and open, an improvement on Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup and broadly as exciting as Euro 2000, although the final's denouement will colour the final analysis. Click to continue reading...

As many suspected, FIFA president Sepp Blatter, admitted yesterday that while he still believed in South Africa as the 2010 World Cup host, he does have a "Plan B."

Blatter told Austrian state broadcaster ORF that there were some concerns about infrastructure and security and stated that the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa will be the test run. Click to continue reading...

EURO 2008:
France v Italy, Berne
Netherlands v Romania, Zurich

The calculators are out for tonight's Group of Death finale, but suffice to say winner takes all.

A win would send France or Italy through; a victory for Romania against the already-qualified Dutch will send them into the Vienna quarter-final against Spain instead, eliminating both the 2006 World Cup finalists. Click to continue reading...

The most pleasant aspect of EURO 2008 for me has been the sight of banks of fans in the stadia.

The corporate hospitality is still there, with 80,000 packages sold, and while that is 80,000 too many for my liking, I have not noticed huge numbers of suits inside the grounds like I have at the last three World Cups. Click to continue reading...

As we said in our "Last Word On Columbus" posting, we'd wait until after the league conducted their investigation and took whatever actions before writing anything further on Columbus. Well we have and have had time to see what if anything changed in the hearts and minds of Crew supporters.

The league had two responses to what occurred in Columbus during their game against New England. Click to continue reading...

Tickle Plans within plans. The front-office's ducks are all beginning to align into something resembling a row as the first of United's long-rumored Sudamericano invasion begin to touch down. Niell and Martínez are confirmed and Carvallo is lurking about baggage-claim somewhere. Moreno is all but finalized to come back at a lower salary. Click to continue reading...

The parachutist's view...
7 Well-known Football Stadia As Seen From The Air

1. Azteca Stadium, Mexico City


2. Hampden Park, Glasgow


3. Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro


4. Monumental Stadium, Buenos Aires


5. Nou Camp, Barcelona


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I'm with Mike H at My Soccer Blog - this is going to be a REALLY nice stadium for the Red Bulls that actually looks like it was meant for soccer. Of course they'll host concerts and other events - but it's a soccer stadium first and foremost. But what's with the black rectangles in [...] Click to continue reading...

To continue this week's main theme, i.e. The 2018 World Cup and who may end up hosting it, I decided to look into the stadia that might be used in each of the countries showing an interest.

Now that England have officially thrown their hat into the ring, it's tempting to suggest that if FIFA asked the FA to host the competition, the least significant problem would be finding a dozen superior stadia. Click to continue reading...

But I love it, though the moving concrete is not a good sign. From the comments, it seems to be Eintracht Frankfurt supporters doing the jumping, though it doesn't look like the Commerzbank-Arena. How To Wreck A Stadium [Totallycrap.com] (via: Attuworld) -ac Click to continue reading...

English football clubs that move to a new stadium see turnover increase by an average 66 percent in their first season at the new ground, a study by accountancy firm Deloitte has suggested. The two thirds increase in earnings does not take into account income clubs make from their share of media broadcast rights. English clubs have spent £2.2 billion on new grounds since 1992/3 of which about Click to continue reading...

Old Trafford, home of English Premier League Champions Manchester United, has been voted Europe's best football stadium by the UK's travelling fans while Liverpool's Anfield boasts the best atmosphere of any European club. A UK property consultancy, Drivers Jonas, commissioned the survey to better understand what fans want from their stadia. In the study fans were asked to rate the European clubs Click to continue reading...

Regulations for all-seater stadia are being put in place ahead of the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa. According to South African Police Service senior superintendent Vish Naidoo, "only the person holding the ticket of a specific seat may be allowed to sit there. At the moment it only refers to the seat number. During the World Cup only the person in whose name it is bought will be allowed to Click to continue reading...

Workers have installed a sleek VIP box, bolted down 88,000 new seats and painted every wall, girder and fence in Indonesia's Soviet-era soccer stadium to prepare it for the final of the Asian Cup. Jakarta's Gelora Bung Karno Stadium will host group matches between South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Indonesia along with the July 29 final of the region's most prestigious soccer tournament. Click to continue reading...